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About Asbestos

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that has been used by man for centuries. It found popularity because it is strong, a good thermal insulator and, in more recent times, good at insulating us from electricity. However, all of these great qualities took a back seat when it was realised just how bad asbestos fibres are for our health and wellbeing!

For building materials that contain asbestos and are in good condition, well painted or encapsulated, asbestos is of no risk to people. This is because the fibres are safely bound up in the building materials.

The problem comes as these materials age and/or the surface coatings or materials become damaged. In New Zealand, asbestosis and diseases related to asbestos are the biggest killer of people in the workplace.

Because of this, regulations were introduced in 2016 that took full legal effect in April 2018. The Health & Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 require all workplaces to have Asbestos Management Plans in place. These obligations apply to all Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) that is involved with a property.

The purpose of these management plans is to ensure that the risks presented by asbestos in the workplace are consciously considered when works are being done.

The fines associated with a failure to comply can be as high as $50,000. This is a significant incentive to get this risk managed. More importantly, by addressing this risk, fewer people will continue to be unwittingly exposed to the long-term health risks presented by asbestos-containing materials in a property: staff, property managers, tenants, you.

But what does an Asbestos Management Plan mean, exactly? It’s our aim to remove the confusion and hassle around this. To make compliance easier, we have developed an online Asbestos Management Planning tool.

Designed for residential property, this tool ensures PCBUs, particularly landlords/investors and property managers, comply with the regulations AND have a cost-effective, clear path forward for management of asbestos!